Mapping inequalities in exclusive breastfeeding in low- and middle-income countries, 2000–2018
Natalia V. Bhattacharjee, Lauren E. Schaeffer, Simon I Hay, Local Burden of Disease Exclusive Breastfeeding Collaborators, Dan Lu, Megan F. Schipp, Alice Lazzar-Atwood, Katie M. Donkers, Gdiom Gebreheat, Foad Abd-Allah, Ahmed Abdelalim, Zeleke Hailemariam Abebo, Ayenew Negesse Abejie, Akine Eshete Abosetugn, Lucas Guimarães Abreu, Michael R.M. Abrigo, Eman Abu‐Gharbieh, Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk, Aishatu L. Adamu, Isaac Akinkunmi Adedeji, Adeyinka Emmanuel Adegbosin, Victor Adekanmbi, Olatunji Adetokunboh, Marcela Agudelo‐Botero, Budi Aji, Oluwaseun Akinyemi, Alehegn Aderaw Alamneh, Fahad Alanezi, Turki M Alanzi, James Albright, Jacqueline Elizabeth Alcalde‐Rabanal, Biresaw Wassihun Alemu, Robert Kaba Alhassan, Beriwan Abdulqadir Ali, Saqib Ali, Cyrus Alinia, Vahid Alipour, Arianna Maever L. Amit, Dickson A Amugsi, Etsay Woldu Anbesu, Robert Ancuceanu, Mina Anjomshoa, Fereshteh Ansari, Carl Abelardo T Antonio, Davood Anvari, Jalal Arabloo, Amit Arora, Kurnia Dwi Artanti, Mulusew Andualem Asemahagn, Wondwossen Niguse Asmare, Maha Atout, Marcel Ausloos, Nefsu Awoke, Beatriz Paulina Ayala Quintanilla, Martin Amogre Ayanore, Yared Asmare Aynalem, Muluken Altaye Ayza, Zelalem Nigussie Azene, B. B. Darshan, Ashish Badiye, Atif Amin Baig, Shankar M Bakkannavar, Maciej Banach, Palash Chandra Banik, Till Bärnighausen, Huda Basaleem, Mohsen Bayati, Bayisa Abdissa Baye, Neeraj Bedi, Sefealem Assefa Belay, Akshaya Srikanth Bhagavathula, Dinesh Bhandari, Nikha Bhardwaj, Pankaj Bhardwaj, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Ali Bijani, Tsegaye Adane Birhan, Binyam Minuye Birhane, Zebenay Workneh Bitew, Somayeh Bohlouli, Mahdi Bohluli, Hunduma Amensisa Bojia, Archith Boloor, Oliver J. Brady, Nicola Luigi Bragazzi, André R. Brunoni, Shyam Sundar Budhathoki, Sharath Burugina Nagaraja, Zahid A Butt, Rosario Cárdenas, João Maurício Castaldelli-Maia, Franz Castro, Achille Cernigliaro, Jaykaran Charan, Pranab Chatterjee, Souranshu Chatterjee, Vijay Kumar Chattu, Sarika Chaturvedi, Mohiuddin Ahsanul Kabir Chowdhury, Dinh‐Toi Chu
Abstract
Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)-giving infants only breast-milk for the first 6 months of life-is a component of optimal breastfeeding practices effective in preventing child morbidity and mortality. EBF practices are known to vary by population and comparable subnational estimates of prevalence and progress across low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are required for planning policy and interventions. Here we present a geospatial analysis of EBF prevalence estimates from 2000 to 2018 across 94 LMICs mapped to policy-relevant administrative units (for example, districts), quantify subnational inequalities and their changes over time, and estimate probabilities of meeting the World Health Organization's Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) of ≥70% EBF prevalence by 2030. While six LMICs are projected to meet the WHO GNT of ≥70% EBF prevalence at a national scale, only three are predicted to meet the target in all their district-level units by 2030.